Do you stop at stop signs?
 

I generally don't because I'm hauling too much ass to stop. I get honked at and told "nice stop ahole" quite a bit.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6b73a7d671.gif

Define "stop"

Do I have the right to remain silent? BF police man

Yes, unless there is heavy cross traffic. I like to live on the edge.

Please leave us contact info so we can extend condolences to your family afterwards ....

Move to Oregon...and roll on through :commute::commute:No need to stop and that's the law.

Thread moved from General to A&S.

I’ve got enough trouble stopping for lights. here’s wishing you a safe ride

The only time I’ve been hit by a car was when I burned a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. Dumbest thing I’ve ever done. I wasn’t even wearing a helmet ffs. That I wound up with only a bad road rash and a busted rear wheel is sheer luck. No way I’m ever taking that chance again.

the signs always reads "POTS" when looking in the mirror, so why would anyone stop for pots unless you has the back pain & glaucoma?

I stop if there is traffic coming from any of the other directions. Even if I will be the first one there by a safe margin. Otherwise, if a tree falls in the woods.................

Yes
 

OK, I can tell I'm the contrarian here. However, some newer riders may value a different perspective.

My context: I ride on suburban roads to get to places.

I always slow down for intersections. If I don't have a clear line of sight, or if there are any moving motor vehicles in sight, I stop at stop signs. I check my mirror and I know what's going on behind me. I drop a foot to show that I'm stopped. If I encounter a "nice-hole" I take my hands off the handlebars and look around.

My reason is that I have to ride defensively. I've seen motorists blow through red lights and stop signs and yield signs and I'm the one that is going to get hurt crashing at an intersection. And I'm not in that much of a hurry.

Will this guarantee I don't get hurt? No. But I've ridden enough in traffic to know that this improves my odds.

About a week ago I pulled into a parking lot and there was a car leaving. Without signaling, he crossed right in front of me to loop through the parking lot again. I had the right of way but not the weight. I was ready and stopped. I had a flashing white light on and was wearing bright colors. He said he didn't see me which isn't impossible; I might have been obscured by his A-column. More likely he just wasn't paying attention. The point is that even when I have the right of way, I have to be ready to avoid a collision.

I will also say that in my view there are way too many stop signs in my area; I don't know about yours. Almost all those places where I don't stop, don't need a stop sign to begin with. The trend of putting in stop signs in residential areas to "slow down traffic" is particularly, well, stupid. The over-use of traffic signs habituates road users to ignoring them.

OK, blast away...

More and more states are adapting the Idaho Stop for signs and/or traffic lights. Look to see what your state's advocacy group is doing. And if the law is not moving forward to make stop signs and or traffic lights into yield signs for cyclists, help them out by advocating. Washington State just passed a law treating stop signs as yield signs.

Presuming a 4-way intersection, what else is there that can be used aside from stop signs? I do agree that there seem to be more use of stop signs at all 3 corners of 3-way intersections (T-intersections), which seems a bit overkill.

I slow some, look for traffic and go, if clear.

That's pretty much what I do. Still got called ahole today and honked at twice. Screw these pusses, right of way goes to first man at the line.

Isn't one of the most common complaints motorists have about cyclists failure to stop at stop signs?

I've never "blown" an intersection in my life. Rolled a stop, jumped a light, turned left on the red arrow? Every day. I live and ride by safety third-- my safety is paramount, followed by the safety of others, followed in a distant third by the "law."

When on a bicycle, I am safest when I'm moving. Sitting still is waiting for something bad to happen. It's been awhile, but the last time someone felt the need to voice an objection to me rolling a stop-- where there was zero cross traffic-- "That was a stop sign back there you know," I yelled back through his window, "Dad!? Is that you!?! Where have you been!?!" I'm not just grown, I'm verging on old. If I'm "running" a stop sign, it's not by accident.

A yield sign on the lesser road. Sight lines matter a lot.

Ding, ding ding.... I have gotten to a point where I do not stop, at a stop sign, even when driving my car... TOTALY illegal... :twitchy: Why do I not stop... Because I look both ways, and.... when nobody is coming from any direction, , for as far as I can see... I just go right on through... :twitchy: It has gotten to the point where I am thinking... of just driving right though a red light, Because there is nobody coming, in any direction … :twitchy: and.... I can't even "pretend" that I am a pedestrian... :innocent:

Think of a stop sign and a light as a place to practice a track stands. :50:

​​​​​​Isn't one of the most common complaints cyclists have about motorists: failure to stop at stop signs?

When the 1-2+ ton, blunt trauma operators take up their responsibilities, we can cast our gaze upon the operators of less murderous vehicles.... :thumb:
​​​

It's definitely the number one complaint in my neighborhood. Close 2nd would be me no hands steering thru intersections and flipping double birds.

I ride in the fifth-largest city in the country, under conditions where I can often keep up with traffic and am rarely that far behind. I consider myself "traffic," therefore, and obey all the same rules they (ostensibly) observe. Except that I usually use the car right in front of me as a pick when proceeding thru stop signs/lights. We move together. And also "except" that I continue moving when they're stopped for the light, choosing which side of traffic to move on based on my evaluations of oncoming stuff and my chances of getting doored if I stay right. Those are related; I feel safest when I'm in the first pair moving.

Outside the city? I'm still pretty scrupulous about the rules except in "tree falling in the forest" situations. Kinetic energy is a *****, and I'm not into measuring it with my body.